The first site I went to visit on my journey back to the Roman Empire is Lago di torre Argentina. This is the plaza in Rome where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death. At this time, which is 45-44 BCE, Julius Caesar is the dictator of Rome. As the sole ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar set in motion imperial expansions into central Europe and to the east. While I was visiting the area, there were members of the senate who were discussing their resent towards Caesar’s popularity and arrogance. They were talking about the fact that Caesar attained the status of dictator for life.

The day is now March 15th 44 BCE. I heard from a civilian that there will be a meeting of the senate today. I walked by the senate building to see a group of 60 people outside the building. After a few minutes of them walking in, I heard yelling and screaming coming from the meeting. Most people looked shocked, but I ran into the building to see what was going on. At that moment, I saw the dictator fall bleeding to his death from the podium of the senate. Everyone in the building had a look of terror on their face. I counted 23 stab marks on Caesar’s body. Before turning to leave to escape the senate building, I saw Caesar’s friend, Marcus Junius Brutus, with a sharp knife in his hand. It was in that moment that I realized that Caesar’s own friend was the main one who assassinated him. Disgraced by the violence, I fled the building.

This moment in history would later be known as the Ides of March. Caesar’s assassinators hoped that the death of Julius Caesar would restore the Roman Republic. Instead, it developed a revolution that sparked the beginning of a violent civil war.